science – Gus diZerega

WORKING PAPER Outgrowing Methodological individualism: Emergence, spontaneous order, and civil society

Posted on July 8, 2020July 8, 2020 by Gus

working paper – comments encouraged.

“It doesn’t matter if a cat is black or white, so long as it catches mice.”

Deng Xiaoping

“it depends in the end on what one’s definition of methodological individualism is.”

Bruce Caldwell

Abstract

Methodological … Read more

The troubling case of eugenics

Posted on June 11, 2020June 11, 2020 by Gus

In the late 1880s Darwin’s cousin, Francis Galton advocated applying scientific insights to human reproduction. He label his proposed science “eugenics.” Galton argued that just as physical traits were obviously inherited, the same could be said for mental qualities. In … Read more

The DDT Lie

Posted on June 11, 2020June 11, 2020 by Gus

When I was invited a few years ago to attend a meeting of the once classical liberal Mt. Pelerin Society in Salt Lake City I was surprised to hear little in the way of informed conversation about markets and ecologies. … Read more

Science and the Feminine

Posted on May 29, 2020May 29, 2020 by Gus

In the seventeenth century, Henry Oldenburg, secretary of the new English Royal Society, wrote the society sought “to raise a Masculine Philosophy . . . whereby the Mind of man may be ennobled by the knowledge of solid truths.” [1]… Read more

Mythos and Time

Posted on May 29, 2020May 29, 2020 by Gus

Mythos and Time

Albert Einstein was asked by a friend “Do you believe that absolutely everything can be expressed scientifically?” Einstein answered “Yes, it would be possible. But it would make no sense. It would be description without meaning – … Read more

The “War of Ideas” and the crippling of classical liberal thought

Posted on July 19, 2014July 19, 2014 by Gus

When I first got interested in the social sciences and philosophy it was in large part because I had been repeatedly told as a high school conservative that we were engaged in a “war of ideas.” Further, in the long … Read more